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Play for Today

Play for Today

Series 5

1974

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  • E1 · 75 min

    Leeds--United!

    About a strike in a textile factory, based on a true story

  • E2 · 75 min

    Baby Love

    After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to 9 months in prison.

  • E3 · 75 min

    Back of Beyond

    Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is with the occasional shopkeeper and young Rachel, who delivers her papers. For Rachel, her visits to Olwen are half adventure, half honest friendship. But they also mean a time to 'put aside childish things.'

  • E4 · 75 min

    The Bevellers

    The first (and last) day at work of a young apprentice in a bevelling shop at a Glasgow glass factory

  • E5 · 75 min

    Taking Leave

    "Well, I hope I won'be seeing you come home in that uniform much more. Six years - that's long enough out of any man's life." Mike's time is nearly up. The army gives him a weekend pass so he's home from Ulster to decide whether to sign on again. His parents want him to stay but he's wondering whether the family's own flare-ups aren't a bit too like the Troubles he has left behind.

  • E6 · 75 min

    Fugitive

    After 18 years as a friar, Peter is no longer sure of his vocation. It is a happy life, maybe too much so, and now he has met Clare. Will his doubts run away with him? Runaway friars are officially "fugitives" who must be persuaded back to their order.

  • E7 · 75 min

    Eleanor

    Eleanor is unable to communicate her inner thoughts as she's bullied at school and virtually ignored by her parents. With a mundane working existence awaiting her, she desires a chance at another life - but at what cost?

  • E8 · 75 min

    Gangsters

    A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

  • E9 · 75 min

    The After Dinner Game

    Vice-Chancellor Bartley Humbolt has problems. His young university is almost bankrupt, his wife is threatening to leave him, his protége professor from industry is threatening to overshadow him, and his prestigious professor of history is threatening to resign. But Bartley is a born manipulator. And when he gives a dinner party, he has something very special in mind - for afters.

  • E10 · 75 min

    Breath

    A story about an asthma sufferer

  • E11 · 75 min

    The Death of a Young, Young Man

    Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

  • E12 · 75 min

    Sunset Across the Bay

    A elderly couple become disillusioned when they retire to their favorite holiday resort.

  • E13 · 75 min

    Funny Farm

    One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

  • E14 · 75 min

    Goodbye

    "All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.

  • E15 · 75 min

    Just Another Saturday

    A young man participating in the Orange Parade in Glasgow becomes disillusioned with the pageant when he discovers its unpleasant and violent history and witnesses the participants' attacks on Catholics.

  • E16 · 75 min

    A Child of Hope

    Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles from their home. They are to be tried under South Africa's Terrorism Act despite the UN ruling that South Africa must abandon its "illegal administration" of their country.

  • E17 · 75 min

    The Saturday Party

    When a stockbroker loses his job, he decides to throw a party.

  • E18 · 75 min

    Wednesday Love

    Two women, looking for amusement on their afternoons off, visit a drinking club.

  • E19 · 75 min

    The Dandelion Clock

    In Belfast, a girl awaits the return of her missing father.

  • E20 · 75 min

    Brassneck

    England, 1945-75: Builder Alfred Bagley makes a fortune, with a little help from his friends.

  • E21 · 75 min

    The Floater

    A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing when you see the works.

  • E22 · 75 min

    By Common Consent

    Political fantasy about a fascist regime